Photoshop and other with sky change software.

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Mooshie1956
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Photoshop and other with sky change software.

Post by Mooshie1956 »

Over the last couple of days I learnt about the new feature in PS and other software for changing the sky. I've tried a few edits and I must be honest it does appear to make some photo's look better.
The thing is personally I'm no a great fan of doing to much editing to my photo's as I like them to be as near as I can to what I took. Obviously if I was to post anything up I would mention if I change the sky, but how do others feel about this.
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RS2
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Re: Photoshop and other with sky change software.

Post by RS2 »

Personally I think there are 3 levels, photos, enhanced / edited photos and digital art. Boosting contrast saturation etc, lifting shadows or the like, to me is editing where by changing a sky is digital art. I dont mind the latter as long as people say that is what they have done, hate all these caught this dramatic photo of.... when you were there at the same time and know that most of the work is post preduction and not just working with levels etc.

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Blackbird
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Re: Photoshop and other with sky change software.

Post by Blackbird »

RS2 wrote:
Fri 30 Oct 2020, 9:21 pm
Personally I think there are 3 levels, photos, enhanced / edited photos and digital art. Boosting contrast saturation etc, lifting shadows or the like, to me is editing where by changing a sky is digital art. I dont mind the latter as long as people say that is what they have done, hate all these caught this dramatic photo of.... when you were there at the same time and know that most of the work is post preduction and not just working with levels etc.
Sums up my view perfectly too.

Andy

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wallace
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Re: Photoshop and other with sky change software.

Post by wallace »

Composite photos are nothing new, however I am fundamentally with the previous posters. The likes of Luminar and it's fantastic sky replacement tool is just not "natural" enough for me, if it needs be, I don't mind dodging and burning a sky that was there when the photo was taken.

Anyway, at the end of the day aviation photography is never about the background, it is more about the type or the registration of the subject than having a pretty sky! :)

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phreakf4
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Re: Photoshop and other with sky change software.

Post by phreakf4 »

wallace wrote: Anyway, at the end of the day aviation photography is never about the background, it is more about the type or the registration of the subject than having a pretty sky!
To many aviation photographers that may be true but I would much rather take a photograph of an aircraft (or most other subjects) which includes a "pretty sky" than with a bland background (and that includes the "clear blue sky" so beloved of many aviation photography enthusiasts). I find a circular polariser filter very useful in that respect.
nothing is confirmed at a show until its u/c hits the tarmac or it is running in for its display.....

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rockfordstone
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Re: Photoshop and other with sky change software.

Post by rockfordstone »

i don't have an issue with composites and sky replacements if the artist is honest about them.

i don't particularly like them for aviation but I know some aviation photographers who have mastered it and their photos look like what they are which is art.

for me all photos need editing just as a film needs processing. photo manipulation is something different and as long as the artist is honest about it it should be treated as such

Brenden S
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Re: Photoshop and other with sky change software.

Post by Brenden S »

You can even add in your own sky photos.

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wallace
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Re: Photoshop and other with sky change software.

Post by wallace »

I had the opportunity to make a presentation to my local camera club last night on the Photoshop Sky Replacement tool and it raised some points that is worth sharing.

The Tool comes with a set number of skies, you can add your own as the default ones will become very hackneyed to the discerning viewer e.g. Competition Judges
Skies are like textures, to use one in a competition, a texture must be one of your own and not taken by someone else.

Matching the right light and camera angle of a sky to the subject is critical, e.g. it is no use matching a backlit sunset to a side lit subject.

The Tool is good but it is not infallible. There are limitations as to what it can achieve.

If you can add in a sky, then you could also add in a sky with a bit of a foreground. This point appealed to my warped mind in being a way of getting one over on aviation photo databases that have certain views on blue sky shots...

Here's links to two good tutorials on the sky replacement tool.

and


For me, the bottom line is - it is good but I don't really have a use for it. It won't make a silk purse out of a sows ear, although it may help! ;)

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rockfordstone
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Re: Photoshop and other with sky change software.

Post by rockfordstone »

"Matching the right light and camera angle of a sky to the subject is critical, e.g. it is no use matching a backlit sunset to a side lit subject."

this the most important thing for me, and the appropriate sky for the image as well.
i've seen so many excellent composites but it is very easy to get them very wrong

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